JILBAB
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One of the issues in hijab that is surrounded by the most confusion is the
JILBAB. Some sisters assert that the jilbab is not fard and that "shalwar
kameez and a headscarf are OK". Other sisters protest that the name "jilbab"
is used in Arabic today to refer to a very specific style and type of garment
and Allah SWT could not have specified that all Muslim sisters are to wear this
and only this type of garment. After seeing these same questions and these same
claims come up over and over again, I decided to write an essay setting out the
answers to the questions: what is the jilbab? and is it fard to wear
one?
For the purposes of this essay we are going to assume that we know nothing of
Arab culture or of the types of garments that Arabs may wear. All we have to go
on is the Quran and the Sunna, and the works of the scholars who have devoted
their lives to study of the Quran and Sunna. After all, Muslims are supposed
to base themselves only on Quran and Sunna. Because of this, I will refer
a lot to
PART ONE: What does the Shari'a say about the garment called "jilbab"?
In the Quran, Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 (33:59) says:
Ya ayyuha an-Nabiyy qul li azwajika wa banatika wa nisa al-mu'minin yudnina
alayhinna min jalabib hinna; dhalika adna an yu'rafna fa laa yu'dhayn. Wa kana
Allahu Ghafur Rahim
O
Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to
draw their JALABIB close around them; that is better that they will be
recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle.
The word "jalabib" is the plural of "jilbab".
Clearly, this ayah states a command for Muslim women to wear a garment which
Allah SWT has called "jilbab".
Beyond this, the hadiths record how the sahabiyat (rAa) went about obeying Surah
al-Ahzab ayah 59 when it was revealed:
Sunan Abu Dawud Book 32 #4090. Narrated Umm Salama, Umm al-Mu'minin: When
the verse, "That they should draw their jalabib close around
them" was revealed, the women of Ansar came out as if they had crows over
their heads by wearing jalabib.
In case there is any confusion about how the Muslim sister is supposed to go
about obeying Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59, this hadith shows that the correct way to
obey it is to wear the garment called "jilbab", since
that is what the sahabiyat (rAa) did. Note that they did not hesitate or delay
or make excuses: when they were told by Allah SWT to wear the garment called
"jilbab", they did, right away.
And there is more even than this. Some of the women remained in seclusion and
never went out so that they did not own the garment called "jilbab".
The hadiths record that the Prophet (sAas) commanded the women to come out for
the Eid gathering, and what he said about the issue of the garment called "jilbab":
Sahih Bukhari Book 8 #347. Narrated Umm Atiyya: We were ordered to bring
out our menstruating women and screened women to the religious gatherings and
invocation of the Muslims on the two Eid festivals. These menstruating women
were to keep away from the musalla. A woman asked, "O Messenger of Allah!
What about one who does not have a jilbab?". He said, "Let
her borrow the jilbab of her companion".
My dear sisters, surely the meaning of this is clear enough to you. If it were
halal for a sister to go outdoors without the garment called "jilbab",
why didn't the Prophet (sAas) allow the women to do this? But instead, he told
them that they must find the garment called "jilbab" to
wear, even if they had to borrow one from a friend. The rule is plain: it is a disobedience
of Allah SWT and of His messenger for a woman to go outdoors if she is not
wearing the garment called "jilbab". Period. I really do not
see any other meaning from Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 or from these hadiths. Do you?
What is the defintion of the word "jilbab" in Arabic?
The definitive dictionary of classical Arabic, Lisan al-Arab by ibn al-Mandhur,
provides the following definition, "The jilbab is the outergarment,
mantle, or cloak. It is derived from the word tajalbaba, which means to clothe. Jilbab
is the outer sheet or covering which a woman wraps around her ON TOP OF HER
GARMENTS to cover herself from head to toe. It hides her body completely" (Lisan
al-Arab, volume 7, page 273)
The dictionary Al-Qamus al-Muhit by Abu Tahir al-Fayruzabadi provides the
definition, "The jilbab...is that which CONCEALS THE CLOTHES like a
cover"
The dictionary Al-Sihah by Jawhari provides the definition, "The jilbab
is the cover and some say it is a sheet. Jilbab has been mentioned in the
hadiths with the meaning of sheet, which the woman WRAPPED OVER HER
CLOTHES"
Intelligent Analysis of the Quran 1: An argument why the jilbab is not just
modest clothing but must be an OUTERGARMENT
Quran Surah an-Nur ayah 31 (24:31) reads as follows:
Wa qul li al-mu'minat yaghdudna min absarihinna wa yahfazna furujahunna wa
laa yubdina zenatahunna illa maa zahara min haa wal-yadribna bi khumurihinna
ala juyubihinna; wa laa yubdina zenatahunna illa li bu'ulatihinna aw
aba'ihinna aw aba'i bu'ulatihinna aw abna'ihinna aw abna'i bu'ulatihinna aw
ikhwanihinna aw bani ikhwanihinna aw bani akhawatihinna aw nisa'ihinna aw maa
malakat aymanu hunna aw at-tabi'ina ghayri ulu'l-irbat min ar-rijal aw at-tifl
alladhina lam yazharu ala awrat an-nisa wa laa yadribna bi arjulihinna li
yu'lama maa yukhfina min zenatahinna. Wa tubu ilaAllahi jami'an, ayyuha al-mu'minun
la'allakum tuflihun
And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their
private parts, and not to display their adornment except what is apparent of
it, and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms, and not
to display their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers, or
their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their
brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk,
or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do
not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women
is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make
known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah
together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful.
This ayah lists a number of things that Muslim sisters are to do:
1) Lower the gaze (from looking at what is haram to be seen of men).
2) Guard the private parts. This means not to let them be seen or touched by who
is haram to see or touch.
3) Conceal all of the body and its decorations except "what is apparent
of it". Most scholars are agreed that the face and the hands are "what
is apparent of it". Some scholars say that only the eyes are "what
is apparent of it". See also point 5 below.
4) Wear a khimar (headcovering) and extend it to cover the bosom. This means
that it covers the hair, the neck, the shoulders, and the upper chest.
5) That the husband, mahram relatives, women, slaves, male servants who do not
feel sexual desire, and children are the only people who can see more of the
woman than "what is apparent of it".
6) Not stamp the feet or otherwise act so that what is hidden becomes known to
others.
It can clearly be seen from this analysis that Allah SWT in Suran an-Nur ayah 31
already commands a woman that when non-mahram men are present, she is to
wear clothing that is loose and opaque plus a headscarf (referred to in the
Quran as khimar) so that with these garments, she covers everything but
her face and her hands. If this were all that was necessary, why has Allah SWT also
revealed Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59? For this reason, the garment called "jilbab"
that has been commanded in Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 must be something in
addition to the modest clothing. The only obvious interpretation is that the
garment called "jilbab" is some type of outergarment,
something that is worn on top of the modest clothing commanded in Surah
an-Nur ayah 31.
Intelligent Analysis of the Quran 2: Another argument why the jilbab is not just
modest clothing but must be an OUTERGARMENT
Surah an-Nur ayah 60 (24:60) provides an exemption for certain women in regard
to hijab. It reads as follows:
Wa al-qawa'idu min an-nisa allati laa yarjuuna nikahan fa laysa alayhinna
junahun an yada'na thiyab hunna ghayra mutabarrijat bi zenat. Wa an
yasta'fifna khayru la hunna. WaAllahu Sami'un Alim
And the elderly women, those who do not have hope of marriage, there is no
fault on them that they lay aside (some of) their clothing as long as they are
not making a display of their adornment. And that they refrain is better for
them. And Allah is the Hearer, the Knower
Here is an interesting puzzle. Elderly women who have no hope of getting married
again are allowed to "lay aside (some of) their clothing" - but
they are restricted from making a display of their adornment. How can a woman
lay aside any part of her clothing without making a display of her body?
The only possible answer is that she is laying aside an extra layer. When
she takes off the extra layer, the layer of clothing that she is wearing under
it will still cover all of her beauty that must be covered. This is the only way
to understand this ayah.
So what is this "extra layer" that Muslim women are wearing? My dear
sister, it is the jilbab! What else can it be? What we have here is that the
Muslim woman is commanded by Surah an-Nur ayah 31 that when she is around non-mahram
men, she must cover all of her body except her face and her hands. This rule is
always in force whenever non-mahram men are present, whether she is indoors or
outdoors. But when she goes outdoors, she is to wear an extra layer, an
outergarment, over the clothes she is already wearing (on account of Surah an-Nur
ayah 31). This extra layer or outergarment is the jilbab. The only exception to
the rule regarding dress is that elderly women who do not have hope of marriage
may leave off the jilbab as long as they continue to wear other clothing that
covers all of their bodies except the face and hands.
Sahih Bukhari Book 72 #684. Narrated Aisha: The wife of Rifa'a al-Qurazi
came to Allah's Messenger while I was sitting...and she was showing the fringe
of her jilbab.
So in this hadith, we see a female Companion (rAa) who wore the jilbab when she
went out to ask a religious question.
There are a few more hadiths as well. These hadiths use the Arabic word "murut".
This is the plural of mirt. According to the authorities on classical
Arabic, the word mirt refers to a sheet (usually made out of wool) that
is wrapped around the body and held closed in front. Clearly, the mirt is
a type of outergarment. As we can now see, the mirt is thus a type of jilbab.
Thus the hadiths about the sahabiyat (rAa) wearing murut can be cited in
support of the wearing of outergarments (jilbabs). The hadiths about the mirt
are as follows:
Sahih Bukhari Book 10 #552. Narrated Aisha: The faithful women wrapped in
their murut used to attend the fajr prayer with Allah's Messenger, and
after finishing the prayer they would return to their homes and nobody could
recognize them because of the darkness.
Sunan Abu Dawud Book 32 #4091. Narrated Aisha: May Allah have mercy on the
early emigrant women. When the verse "That they should extend their
headcoverings (khumur) to cover their bosoms" was revealed, they tore
their murut and used this as khimar.
The first of these hadiths shows the sahabiyat (rAa) going out to the masjid
wearing jilbabs (i.e., outergarments, specifically the mirt) while the second
hadith provides us with the interesting information that Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59
was apparently revealed before Surah an-Nur ayah 31 (from which the quote is
taken) because at the time that Surah an-Nur ayah 31 was revealed the women were
already wearing jilbabs (i.e., outergarments, specifically the mirt). When Surah
an-Nur ayah 31 was revealed, the women tore pieces off their jilbabs to make
headscarves.
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